Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Matthew 11:20-30), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [20-24] Jesus did many “mighty works” among the cities of Galilee—good blessings that clearly demonstrated divine compassion and power. Yet, generally speaking, the people of these places remained unaffected and unrepentant. Jesus lamented this, and in his pity he warned them of the misery that was in store for them in the inevitable day of God’s judgment. He embraced and embodied the mercy of God as he proclaimed judgment. Is that even conceivable to you? When you hear Jesus speaking like this, do you hear angry threats or love’s warning? Can you believe it’s good for Jesus to talk about God’s judgment? Can you believe that it is good that God is the Judge of all the earth? Why might people resent, despise, or reject the idea of God’s judgment?

• [25-27] God’s judgment is a problem for sinners. Jesus answers that problem by thanking God for his judgment, celebrating the freedom of God’s grace, and revealing God to us for a new relationship where we can submit our judgment to God’s judgment in him. Jesus did the one thing sinners would never do—he utterly submitted himself to God’s good judgment, in our place. Knowing Jesus, can you believe that God’s judgment is good for you and for the world? Is it good for a person to submit to God’s judgment? Does submission to God’s judgment mean you will have an easy, comfortable life?

• [27-30] Jesus, uniquely, has divine knowledge and authority to reveal God to us, because he is God, the Son. And he reveals that he is—and therefore that God is—gentle and lowly in heart. There is nothing deeper or more true about God than his humble and gracious compassion. Coming to him means “rest for your souls.” Why does your soul need rest? Why might you not have found rest for your soul? How does rest for your soul sound to you? How does it sound that it can only be found as you come to Jesus (“repentance”)? Have you submitted yourself to God’s judgment in him? Have you experienced how this “yoke,” this “burden” actually frees and lightens your soul (rather than oppressing it)?